Cafe Poet Update By Diana Brooks

Here's the latest from Cafe Poet Diana Brooks: "I'm nearly through my first month at Café Latte. I've chosen the place I prefer to sit and having found the front of house – the window looks onto the main street of Orange – a bit full on, now I sit a little further down the back. Jasmine (from the Writers' Centre) has taken my photograph with Aaron, the proprietor, who says he is going to frame it.

So! The sign's up, the fair trade coffee is hot and the whimsical works of art on the walls are tuning the atmosphere. A friendly arts reporter and photographer came for an interview and seemed keen to compare the Café Poet Program to Café Society and the Impressionist painters in the cafes of 19th Century France. Seemed like a good enough idea to me!!

A few days later it has snowed all morning in the main street, the glass window framing the scene as cars nose their way through the huge soft flakes.

As others have said, this café poet business is a work in progress. Thanks to the momentum provided by the publicity, I've had quite a number of informal chats, and arranged appointments with people and am waiting to see where this may lead. There is a sense of growing supportive relationships, not only with Aaron, but with to the city of Orange."

The Cafe Poet program is supported by the Naitonal Poetry Centre, Central West Writer's Centre and Cafe Latte, 173 Summer Street, Orange. Diana is in residence at the cafe from 9am - 12 noon - Mon, Wed, Fri, so call in and meet a poet.